Nya the Cheerleader
by Astra H. Lowelle
Summary: When Kai dares his sister Nya to join her rivals on the cheerleading squad, she accepts the dare- and inadvertently becomes the captain of the team.
1. The Dare is Given and Accepted

" _Ew."_

Nya turned, hoping whatever it was, it would be fast. She was trying to get to her class on time, but the crowds in the halls of Ninjago High were notoriously thick and difficult to navigate through at times.

Brittany Chang, the captain of Ninjago High's cheerleading squad, was strolling toward her. The rest of the squad, as usual, was behind their captain.

"Ew," Brittany repeated dramatically, gesturing to Nya's T-shirt. "I mean, who wears stripes anymore? And that leather jacket. It's, like, _soooo_ boyish. And those pants! I mean, does any normal, self-respecting girl wear _ripped_ jeans?"

The rest of the squad fell over themselves to agree with her. Nya rolled her eyes.

"This one does, obviously."

" _Ew,"_ Brittany repeated, flipping her long hair and sashaying off down the hall. Nya glared after her, then turned and marched into her classroom just as the bell rang.

"Ugh!" Nya groaned later that night, as she and the other five ninja were sitting down at dinner at the dojo. "Those girls make me _sick_!"

"Which girls?" Cole said absently, starting in on his sixth bowl of rice.

"The cheerleaders," Nya groused. "Honestly, they walk around like they own the place, they wear enough lip gloss to conceal a rhino, and they're so…they're so… so _girly!_ "

"Bet you have to be a real girl to be a cheerleader," Kai teased. "Bet you couldn't even make the team, Nya."

"I could if I wanted to," Nya shot back. Kai grinned.

"Yeah, yeah, you're all talk. Bet you couldn't."

"I _could_!"

"Prove it."

Nya clenched her fists and shoved her chair back, standing up. "I _can_ do it, and I'll prove it to you. You know the cheer rally against Seacliff High that's coming up in a week? I'm going to be there, on the floor, in uniform, and you can sit in the stands and choke on the fact that _you_ were wrong and _I_ was right."

She jutted out her chin, daring anyone to contradict her. Everyone recognized the look. It was the one Nya always wore when she decided on something and nothing anyone said or did could sway her.

"I don't doubt it, Nya," Kai smiled, winking at his sister. "I bet you'll be the best, girliest cheerleader our school ever had."

"You're going to be great, Nya!" Lloyd said excitedly. "I'll be there."

"You'll be dressed like a girl for once?" Cole grinned. "I'll be there."

"Ninjago High will have a 94.63 percent chance of winning the rally with Nya on the team," Zane calculated. "I will be there."

"Did you say 'in uniform'?" Jay asked interestedly. "I'll be there."

Kai slapped him.


	2. The Tryouts are Taken and Aced

" _You_ want to try out for cheerleading?"

Brittany Chang, the Ninjago High School cheerleading captain, looked Nya up and down, a frown twisting her heavily-glossed lips. "Like, _what_ makes you think you'd be a good cheerleader?"

"I'm agile," Nya replied, trying not to grit her teeth. She was _not_ going to let Kai win this thing. "My balance is pretty decent, and I'm a quick learner."

"We are one girl short this year since Katelyn Ming left," volunteered a pretty brunette, looking nervously at Brittany. "We could use Nya."

"Nobody _asked_ you, Jessica," Brittany snapped. Jessica stepped back quickly. The captain turned back to Nya, flipping her long blond ponytail.

"Fine, Nya. We're holding tryouts tomorrow anyway, when the coach gets here. But don't come crying to me when you fail it miserably."

And with that, Brittany and her cheerleaders sashayed off. Nya clenched her fists. She was _really_ looking forward to knocking Brittany's socks off during tryouts the tomorrow.

The next day, promptly after the final bell had rang, Nya changed into her P. E. outfit and made her way toward the gym. A few other girls were headed that way too. Nya smiled. She did so love a good competition.

"All right, girls," Brittany announced as soon as everyone was assembled. "The coach will be here any second, so I'm going to fill you in on what's going on. As you all know, we're one cheerleader short since Katelyn Ming left. So we've got one spot open. I count six of you here- let me tell you, girls. You're going to have to _fight_ for that spot."

 _Oh, I intend to,_ Nya thought grimly just as the coach entered the room, puffing a little.

"Sorry, girls," she apologized. "I had an appointment to keep. But I'm here now, so let's start the tryouts."

She consulted a clipboard. "Hmm. We have six girls here, so I want all six of you to listen up. The regular cheerleaders are going to do a routine. I want you girls to follow along as best as you can. We'll leave out the pyramid, of course, but everything else you should be able to do. All right; cheerleaders, go!"

The five cheerleaders launched into their routine. They flipped, kicked, waved pom-poms, and shouted their cheers.

Nya winced.

"All right, girls," the coach said brightly. "Let's see how well you were paying attention. Cheerleaders, go again!"

The cheerleaders began their routine again, with the girls trying to follow along. Nya looked over at the other five girls. Two of them were doing their best, but stumbling around and bumping into each other more often than not. Three were doing okay, but not quite as well as the cheering squad. Nya copied the moves with no trouble at all, even throwing a couple of extra flips at the end.

 _Show-off,_ Brittany mouthed to Nya, glaring.

 _Deal with it,_ Nya mouthed back.


	3. The Team is Made and Impressed

Nya was just taking out her geography book when the PA system came on.

"Nya Smith, please report to the gym. Nya Smith, to the gym please. Thank you."

Kai shot Nya a curious look before turning his attention back to the teacher. Nya shrugged, gave him a covert thumbs-up, and exited the classroom.

Nya pushed open the doors to the gym to find the entire cheerleading squad, plus the coach, seated on the mats and waiting for her. The coach had a box on her lap.

"All right," Brittany said, her teeth clenched so tightly together Nya wondered how she got any sound out at all. "Congratulations, Nya. You're on the team."

"Here's your uniform," the coach added, holding the box out to Nya. "It used to be Katelyn's, it should fit you."

She took it. Inside was a folded cheerleader's outfit, all pale pink and white and _extremely_ girly. Nya lifted the thing out and held it against herself.

"Go try it on!" Jessica urged eagerly. "You'll look great."

Brittany snorted. The coach shot her a warning look.

Nya slipped into the locker room and changed into the uniform. It was tight, but it fit like a glove. The skirt, she noted, was a bit short. Nya shrugged. If that was the way she had to beat Kai, she'd do it.

Marching out of the dressing room with her head held high, Nya looked around at her fellow cheerleaders. Jessica was smiling, Brittany was glaring, and the coach was nodding, pleased.

"Perfect, Nya. It fits nicely. Now, what say you all we start practice?"

The practice went nicely. Nya learned several of the cheers, earned more than a few admiring looks from the squad and coach, took a lot of glaring from Brittany, and pulled off the best triple aerial flip the team had ever seen.

"You know," Lena said thoughtfully as they all took a break. "You know, when we do our human pyramid, Brittany does a whole bunch of fancy tricks to get up onto the apex, and then does a whole bunch of fancy tricks on top, and then does a whole bunch of fancy tricks on the way down?"

Everyone nodded assent.

"Well, I think Nya should do that."

"What?" Brittany sputtered. "She can't do that! That's my thing!"

"We do have that big tournament coming up with Seacliff," Jessica cut in. "Nya could really help us win it. We haven't won against Seacliff in ages."

"Let's try it," decided another girl, completely ignoring Brittany's protests. "I bet Nya can really rocket us to the top!"


	4. The Pyramid is Rearranged and Threatened

Nya's next few days passed in a blur of schoolwork, ninja training, and practicing the routine the squad had decided on for the rally. She knew she was in top physical condition, but she also knew that the more she practiced the set of moves making up the routine, the smoother they would be during the rally.

So she practiced.

And she practiced some more.

One the day of the rally, Nya awoke slightly nervous, but completely on top of her game. She knew she had done everything in her power to prepare herself for this thing, and she was going to show Kai and all the others that it didn't take a girly girl to be a great cheerleader.

"Ready for the big meet, sis?" Kai asked her, grinning, as they boarded the bus along with the others. "Did you put on your lip gloss?"

Nya cuffed him neatly over the head. Jay laughed and found them seats.

At school, no one could concentrate on the work assigned. Even the people who were not on the team were very eager to see the new girl in action, and _very_ eager to see Seacliff beaten for once.

"Very well," the teacher sighed, three-quarters into the lesson. "There's no point when you're all so distracted. You are dismissed."

"Good luck, Nya!" Lloyd whispered excitedly to Nya as the class stampeded out of the room and to the gym for good seats. "You're gonna be totally awesome!"

Nya smiled. "Thanks, Lloyd. Don't worry, I'll make you proud."

"And me?" Jay popped up. Nya rolled her eyes.

At the gym, Nya found the rest of the squad and the coach in the locker room, seated in a semicircle of chairs. The coach waved her over. Brittany sat in her chair, seething. Nya guessed it had something to do with her.

"Why are you late?" the coach asked. "Everyone was here twenty minutes ago! Didn't you get called?"

"No," Nya replied, a little surprised. "Was someone supposed to call me out of class?"

All eyes turned to Brittany, who flushed. "I guess I forgot to call her," she said, attempting a careless tone. "It's not like we really needed her here anyway."

"Brittany," the coach said sharply. "A team needs all its members, at all times. Is that clear? Good. Now, Nya, have a seat. We're discussing the last part of the routine- the pyramid. Now, Katelyn Ming was the center of the bottom row before she left. Ordinarily, that place would go to you now. But after observing the practices, I've decided to make a little change. Brittany is going to take Katelyn's place, and Nya, you'll take the top."

Wild cheering from the girls nearly drowned out Brittany's outraged shrieks. " _What?_ She can't _do_ that! That's _my_ spot!"

"Not anymore," the coach stated calmly. "A team needs to play to its strengths. Brittany, you're one of the strongest girls here, and you're the best person for your position. Even if you don't like it, a captain has to make sacrifices for her team."

Her face glowing with rage, Brittany nodded. The coach clapped her hands.

"All right, girls! Let's make this final practice perfect. Next time we do this routine, it'll be in front of the whole Seacliff and Ninjago High!"

There was cheering from everyone, even Brittany, who had a very forced smile on her face. Everyone changed quickly into uniform, and then began to limber up.

Right before the squad was called out into the gym to start the rally, Brittany sidled up to Nya.

"Just a bit of friendly advice, Nya. I think you need to watch yourself today, to make sure that nothing ruins the pyramid. Of course, if something did go wrong by the pyramid, I bet I know who's going to get blamed for it."

She winked, glared, and sashayed out of the locker room with the rest of the squad. Biting her lip in consternation, Nya followed.


	5. The Rally is Cheered and Risked

As the squad marched out of the dressing room and onto the floor, the students of Ninjago High cheered madly, while the guests from Seacliff clapped politely. Kai barely bit back a laugh when he saw Jay staring at Nya, his mouth hanging open. Cole gave Jay a ferocious elbow to the side, upon which Jay yelped and, closing his mouth quickly, clapped along with the others.

After winning the coin toss, Ninjago High was to perform first. At a nod from the coach, the cheerleaders got into position.

"G'luck, Nya," Jessica whispered from the corner of her mouth. Nya flashed her a quick thumbs-up.

"Wow" Jay murmured to Kai as the cheerleaders began their routine. "Nya has really nice legs."

"Jay, shut up," Kai hissed. Jay shrugged cheerfully, then put his fingers into his mouth and whistled loudly. Kai slapped him. "Jay! Shut up!"

Jay _had_ something to whistle about- the cheerleaders were doing perfectly. Even Brittany seemed to have gotten over herself, with a big smile across her face as she waved her pompoms and cheered.

Nya felt she would die if Kai found out, but she was enjoying herself. She had worked really hard for this, and she'd learned that most of the cheerleaders weren't quite as girly as she'd thought. They had put in a lot of hard work for this, too. Nya was proud of them all- and herself.

Executing a perfect double flip, Nya looked up into the stands. For a moment, she couldn't find her brother, but then a flash of red jersey caught her eye. Kai and the guys were all sitting together, and when Kai made eye contact, she could see him smiling.

"Way to go, sis!" he howled above the crowd noise. Even Seacliff was applauding. Nya pumped extra vigor into her routine as Lloyd screamed, "Go, Nya, go!"

Several kicks later, Brittney and two other grouped together for the bottom part of the pyramid. Nya felt herself tighten up in nervousness.

Nothing to be worried about, he told herself sternly. You've practiced this thing who-knows-how-many times. You're going to be fine.

The middle row of the pyramid formed up, Jessica winking at Nya for luck. Nya wined back, slipped behind the pyramid, and began to ascend.

It was as Nya reached the top and stood, spreading her arms in a V for Victory, that Brittany made her move.


	6. The Pyramid is Ruined and Saved

At the top of the pyramid, Nya raised her arms in a V and beamed a immense smile into the audience. Her eyes fell on Kai, who was standing on his chair, applauding away like it was giving out of style. The other guys were on their chairs too, most notably Jay, who was red in the face from screaming so loud.

"TWO, FOUR, SIX, EIGHT, WHO DO WE AP-"

Kai shoved him. Jay shut his mouth, but kept clapping.

And suddenly, Nya felt the pyramid shift.

Jessica cried out underneath her. Nya looked down from her vantage point. In the bottommost row, the center figure was consciously missing- and the pyramid was tumbling down.

Onto the hard, mat-less floor.

In a flash, Nya realized that Brittany was willing to sacrifice the win just to spite her and the quad, and frankly, Nya was not about to let that happen.

She tucked her body into a roll, letting her fly off the top of the crumbling pyramid, and landed neatly on her feet. Jessica flew past her right elbow, and Nya threw an arm out to break her fall. An airborne Lena met Nya's left hand, and landed safely on her bent knees. The remaining two girls on bottom were fine, but the pyramid was ruined.

There was a shocked silence.

And then, in one wave, the crowds of people in the stands rose to their feet and began to cheer.


	7. The Captaincy is Offered and Declined

"What's going on?" Jessica shrieked into Nya's ear. "Why are they cheering?"

"No idea!" Nya hollered back.

"And," called the rally commentator. "In a stunning surprise move from the Ninjago High squad, a never-before-seen combo move for the pyramid finish! Seacliff High is going to have to work very hard to beat this score, folks!"

"That's my girlfriend!" Jay hollered from his seat. Nya's face went red as Kai yanked Jay back into his seat and clamped a hand firmly over his mouth.

The Ninjago High cheerleaders blew kisses as they marched back to their locker room. Seacliff performed next, but the knowledge that they had already lost put rather a damper on their performance. Ninjago High had won the rally.

"Nin-ja-go! Nin-ja-go!" everyone cheered as the coaches of both teams presented a trophy to Brittany, the captain. Brittany hoisted it over her head, smirking at Nya, who smiled back as Jessica and Lena forced the trophy out of the captain's hands and passed it to Nya.

 _"Ny-a! Ny-a! Ny-a!"_

The noise tripled as Nya lofted the trophy. Face glowing with rage now, Brittany led the team back into the locker room.

"Well," the coach said grimly as soon as the rally was over and the team was assembled. "I don't think I need to tell you how proud I am of most of you, and how disappointed I am in one of you. Brittany, what were you thinking?"

"It was Nya's fault!" Brittany whined. "She kicked me as she was going up!"

"I did _not_!" Nya exclaimed vehemently. The coach held up her hand for silence.

"There's no use arguing. Brittany, I saw you slip out underneath just as Nya reached the top. She couldn't have kicked you from up there. You could've hurt your own team!"

Brittany opened her mouth to protest, but the coach spoke over her.

"A captain never behaves that way, and if one does, that person is no longer worthy to be captain."

A shriek of protest escaped Brittany's lips. Jessica piped up.

"Coach, I think Nya should be the new captain."

" _No!"_ Brittany screamed. "No! She can't! It isn't _faaaaaiiiiir!"_

"That's a good suggestion," the coach approved, completely ignoring Brittany. "Girls, let's take a vote. All in favor of Nya being captain?"

Every hand but Brittany's rose.

"Excellent. It's settled. And Brittany-" the coach looked stern. "Another word from you and you're off the team. The whistle, please?"

Brittany went quiet immediately as she handed over her captain's whistle to the coach, but she shot a venomous look at Nya. Nya smiled sweetly at her.

"Thanks, everyone," she grinned as the coach hung the whistle around her neck. "It means a lot. But I'm leaving the team."

"What?" Jessica blurted. "Why?"

"I just wanted to see if I could do it," Nya explained. "I shouldn't be on the team if someone else really wants to be. But don't worry. I'll make sure the captaincy is in good hands."

Nya laid down her pom-poms, then turned to the coach.

"Coach, thanks for everything. Thanks to all of you. I've had a great time hanging out with you guys. And as to the captaincy-"

Nya lifted the whistle up over her head, walked over to Jessica, and draped the shiny symbol of captaincy over her friend's head.

The applause from the rest of the team was heartfelt.


	8. The Gift is Given and Used

Later that night, around the dinner table on the Bounty, Kai conceded defeat.

"You were right, Nya. You _were_ the best cheerleader on the floor today."

Jay concurred enthusiastically. "Youlooked _great_ out there, Nya. Seriously. Did you guys plan that move with the pyramid? It was _totally awesome_!"

"Nope," Nya sighed. "That was Brittany's fault. Entirely."

"You showed presence of mind, however," Zane approved. "I doubt whether any of the others could exhibit as such at the time."

"I'm just that awesome," Nya shrugged. Cole nudged Kai, and winked.

"You are," Kai agreed. "So awesome, in fact, that we got you a gift."

"Really?" Nya beamed as she took the small box. "Thanks, guys!"

"Don't thank us yet," Cole smirked. "Open the box first."

"But before you kill us," Jay said quickly, "I'm just gonna say it was all Kai's idea. I had absolutely nothing to do with it. "

Slightly bemused, Nya opened the box. Inside, nestled on pale pink paper, sat three tubes of lip gloss in varying shades of garish hot pink.

"I AM GOING TO _SLAUGHTER_ YOU, KAI!"

Nya grabbed all three tubes of lip gloss, wrenched the caps off, and was an inch away from jamming them collectively up her brother's nose when Kai took one look at her face, realized she was serious, and bolted from the room. Nya sat back down, breathing heavily, but grinning. It was a wolf's grin- one that sent shivers down Jay's and Cole's spines.

"I'm going to have a good time with these tonight," she said sweetly.

Coincidentally, the next morning, Kai woke up to find his lips frosted heavily with three shades of garish hot pink.


End file.
